Old Friends
by Beanst3r
Summary: Frisk's friends may be saved, but the Barrier still remains. Frisk still has her human soul intact, but perhaps just one won't be enough. Character list (won't let me add more than 4): Frisk, Flowey, Sans, Alphys, Asgore, Papyrus, Toriel. [Rated for a small amount of violence, more characters as the story progresses]
1. Keep Your Friends Close

**Greetings! It is I, ready to join the Undertale trash! Honestly, I adore this game, and I hope that I've written this as accurately as possible. As always, feedback is appreciated! Let me know where I can improve in my writing for the future :) [On a side note, for those of you following my recent Gorillaz story; No I have not forgotten about it and yes I will finish it in the near future, you kinky animals ;)] Enjoy!**

Blood.

That's all Frisk could taste. That's all she could make sense of. Surprising, really. She couldn't even take notice of the defining cackling ricocheting through her ears, or the cuts, gashes, and bruises that adorned her skin. Despite being beaten to the point of near-destruction, and at the equivalent of 0.25 HP, she held on. She had to. Letting go would mean giving up, and giving up would mean letting her friends die. That, Frisk reasoned, was not an option.

Brushing her negative thoughts aside, Frisk managed to force her battle-damaged head up to look her opponent dead in the eye, and instantly regretted` it. She was met with a face she could only describe as "hellish". Everything about her, or it, from her light brown hair to those rosy-red cheeks, and even the brown eyes that could hurt you better than any weapon ever could. Of all the people Frisk had to fight to save her friends, and the underground, why did it have to be - Frisk shuddered.

Chara.

Frisk willed herself to at least get up on one knee, an incredible feat in her condition. She rested her right arm on her right knee, and raised her head once more. Meeting her gaze was Chara. She seemed to be enjoying herself. Her weight was rested mostly on her left leg, whilst her right hand was planted firmly on her right hip, giving her a look that said "is that the best you can do?" She just stood there, twiddling her knife as though it were a basketball, only strengthening Frisk's opinion that Chara thought this was all just a game.

Alas, the rather extended battle had only served to weaken and tire Frisk, and she collapsed back onto the ground, face-first, with a pained sigh. Even though she couldn't see her, Chara still rolled her eyes dramatically.

"C'mon… Hurry up and load a SAVE, I'm itching to go again". She remarked with a smirk. "Oh wait, you have to be the most determined around, don'tcha?" At this, she threw her head back and laughed hysterically, body shaking as she did so. Once she had regained control of herself, she walked, no, waltzed over to where Frisk lay. She got on her knees and yanked Frisk up by her hair, and forced Frisk to look at her.

"I'm sorry." Chara began. She angled the knife just above the back of Frisk's neck, ready to start all over again. "I forget, who is that again?" As Chara gripped the knife, Frisk closed her eyes, wincing. Yes, she would wake up again in a matter of seconds, but she still remembered the timelines. Even worse, she still experienced the pain that death brings. And if someone ever told Frisk that dying is painless, she knew they'd be dead wrong.

"Ohh yes! Now I remember!" She exclaimed, an evident tone of mockery in her voice. Her hand left Frisk's hair and held her chin instead, so that she wouldn't dare avert her gaze from Chara. She opened her mouth and, knowing Chara, would strike at the last word.

 _Frisk braced herself for the searing pain that was to follow. Surprisingly, the pain radiated from the front of her head. She sat up, noticing that instead of the cold, damp texture of a cavern floor, she was now rested upon a set of small but soft golden flowers. Taking in her surroundings, she noticed a slight out-of-place shape just within the shadows._

" _He- hello…?" She called out hesitantly, wishing this wasn't another one of Chara's mind games that she liked to play._

" _Oh, you've fallen down, haven't you?"_

" _Who's there?" Frisk asked, bravery coming back to her, bit by bit._

" _Golly! You had quite the fall, didn't 'cha?"_

 _There was only one person on the face of this earth that Frisk knew who spoke like that._

" _Flowey…?" She asked, thinking she already knew the answer. At this, the figure revealed itself, startling Frisk quite a bit. Meeting her gaze was what appeared to a much smaller boy version of Toriel. He also adorned a jumper with a similar style to Chara's: green with two yellow stripes across the chest. He was also wearing an expression of confusion, most likely at the strange nature of her previous question._

" _Who?" He asked, puzzled. Obviously he was unaware of her current situation, and so she decided to just go along with it. The boy shrugged to himself and continued. "What's your name?"_

 _Frisk opened her mouth to speak. But it wasn't her name._

" _Chara, huh? That's a nice name." He said with a sweet smile. "My name's…"_

She sat bolt upright, headbutting Chara clean off of her.

"Asriel!" She yelled out. In an instant, Frisk felt herself being pinned back onto the ground, Chara's snarling form towering above her.

"What. Did you. Just say?" She threatened, knife resting on its point on Frisk's throat. Frisk gulped, shivering slightly as the movement caused the knife to shift ever so slightly across her skin. "Now, let's try again." She said, bringing the blade up to Frisk's chin.

"Who's the most determined around here?" A smug look already racing across her face.

"Not you." Came a small but stern voice.

Chara's eyes went wide as she felt a cluster of vines wrapping themselves around her torso. One moment, they tightened their grip. The next, Chara felt herself being hauled off of Frisk and chucked to the ground. Chara knew who they were before they even saw them.

"YOU." She spat as she picked herself up, clutching her abdomen. Her eyes met that of a long-term enemy, which to her surprise matched her own murderous glare. She was about to run at full force at him, intent of ending his pathetic life until she noticed that his eyes were different, unnaturally so. They weren't the usual little black slits she was so used to seeing, no. These ones had opened up, giving way to a monstrous pair of red and green eyes that even seemed to flash on their own. Chara didn't give it a second thought before she gripped the knife's handle and ran, screaming, at the offending flower. He actually gave a small chuckle to himself before Flowey summoned another vine, this one coming from the roof of the small cave. It wasted no time in wrapping itself around Chara's left arm, stopping her momentarily. She took one look at the vine before slashing it apart with her knife. She then proceeded to walk towards the flower once more.

"What?" She sniggered. "You really thought THAT was gonna stop m-" She stopped when she heard her foot connect with and crush glass. Container glass. She was about to question it when she looked at Flowey for a second time, a legitimate look of abject horror marking itself across her face. She had been so caught up in her enjoyment of murder that she failed to notice the unmistakable shapes of different coloured souls floating around him. Chara wanted to scream.

"Oh no, but THESE will!" He motioned with a small petal to the floating hearts. "Golly!" Came that equally unmistakable voice. "You're pretty darn powerful with no soul!" His face suddenly molded into one Chara hadn't seen before, one with completely black eyes and row upon row of razor sharp teeth. "I wonder what I can do with SIX!"

With that, Chara had had enough. She regained her composure, took a deep breath, and charged at the flower, swinging her blade towards him with all she could. Just as the blade was about to connect, Flowey gave a small wink and disappeared into the ground, causing Chara to miss and fall to the ground once more. She got up immediately, infuriated.

"COME ON THEN!" She screamed at the top of her lungs, maddened that someone would dare mock her, her of all people! "OR ARE YOU JUST A BIG, FAT CHIC-" Chara was unable to finish due to her entire body being grasped by a gigantic arm which, from what she could tell, was constructed of vines, with long piercing thorns for fingers. She knew its owner was lurking in the shadows, and she was 37% sure she wanted to face him head-on. But when the being lurched forward, bringing him into view, that feeling dropped straight to 0%.

Before Chara was the most hideous beast (aside from the mirror) that she had ever laid eyes upon. Before Chara, was a monstrous concoction of human organs, plants, and machinery. Every inch of it was either writhing, convulsing, or pulsating. She wanted to vomit. The being's grip tightened on her as it let out a deafening roar, the mouth snapping at her as it did so. She suddenly took notice of a large TV screen, where the head should have been, as it flicked on and came to life. After a few seconds of maddening silence, Flowey's smug little face appeared on the screen, eyes (all of them) focused on Chara. As bleak as the situation seemed, Chara still had her knife. Her DETERMINATION rising, she grasped it firmly in her hand.

"That's pretty impressive." She said casually, doing a surprisingly good job at hiding her absolute terror of this beast. "But you forgot about THIS!" She screamed as she thrust the knife into the hand of the creature with all her might. She relaxed a little, and waited with a smile for the Flowey's health bar to appear… Only to register that one point of damage was dealt.

Oh no.

Whilst this very one-sided battle was occurring, movement in the corner of the room went unnoticed by the both of them. Frisk had just about managed to get to her knees, and was barely keeping herself up. It took her a moment, but when she realised that Chara could strike at any moment, she looked around frantically, only to be met with a sight that chilled her better than Chara ever could.

"Well," Came a demonic voice, that caused even Chara to quiver. "That went according to plan, didn't it?" He asked with another wink. "I always knew we'd be together again Chara, but not like this." His words became more raspy and disjointed, and his grip tightened. Chara could tell he was building up to something.

"All those days we spent together, playing together, LIVING together." He said with a snarl. "Did that not mean ANYTHING to you?!" A tear rolled down Chara's cheek for the first time in forever, and it scared her.

"I suppose I have one thing to thank you for." He continued. "You did teach me a very valuable life lesson."

"Wh… What?" Chara stuttered, not holding back her tears anymore as she quietly sobbed.

"It's that in this world…" As he spoke, several things happened at once. All four eyes started to glow, a small light started to build up in the back of the creature's mouth, and Flowey's face transformed back into its demonic state.

Upon realising where he was going with this, Chara sniffed one last time, and hung her head in shame. "It's killed or be killed…" She trailed off. Flowey nodded. He wasted no time in unleashed his maniacal laugh and with it, his weapons. That was all Frisk saw before she finally gave into the unconsciousness that had been threatening to take her for a while.

The combined efforts of the beams hit Chara at full force, and her screams didn't stand a chance of being heard over the attacks. Pure energy pierced Chara, turned her skin and bone into dust in a matter of seconds. Long after Chara had passed, Flowey ceased his attacks. Even though he didn't require breathing to function, it still took a lot out of him, his simulated, erratic breathing proved it. He opened his giant hand and let the dust fall to the floor, but not before blasting it one last time. Once he had situated himself, he turned his gaze to Frisk, who lay defenseless on the floor.

A gigantic shadow loomed over Frisk, unknown to her. As he stood there however, weapons primed, laugh at the ready; Flowey's wicked face melted into an expression of sadness, an emotion not even he was aware he could feel. He let out a sigh, although that could have just been the hissing of his machinery.

"I should just tear you to bloody pieces." He said to himself. "But… I just can't." His expression softened as he turned back to the pile of dust. "Besides, if I kill you, who'll free me from the underground, hmm?" He remarked with a smirk.

Once he reached the pile, all of his faces started to contort with effort. After a few seconds, six souls appeared out of the tubing before gently circling Flowey.

"So, if you're gonna live, I might as well make it enjoyable for you…"

The souls stopped in mid-air, before grouping together. Together, the souls produced yet another energy beam, but this one was different. It was more calm and peaceful, and was wispy. The beam gently floated over to what was once Chara and penetrated it. As soon as it did, clumps of dust began to leave the main pile and spread out. Flowey winced as several beads of sweat rolled down his faces, but he wasn't the most determined around for no reason. His faces contorted yet again, and the beam intensified. The several clumps of dust now started to rise up, and from them, he could make out the forming features of arms and legs, all of which were different shapes and sizes.

Once the clumps barely looked like living people, other features started to form. Purple robes, a suit of armor, a cyan coloured hoodie. They were started to come back, but Flowey wasn't done yet.

Clothes in place, different colours of skin started to rush from them, forming bones, fur, and scales. Suddenly, in a brilliant flash of light, they were back. Flowey let out another breath as his eyes scanned the floor, doing a head count. Toriel, Sans, Undyne, Papyrus, Asgore, and Alphys were all sprawled out on the floor. Unconscious, but alive. As the souls left Flowey, he felt his entire body tremble. That pathetic act of kindness had just cost him one of his most powerful forms.

 _You Idiot._ He thought to himself.

Once he was through mentally cursing himself, he turned his attention to the human before him, whose eyes were full of astonishment and locked firmly on his.

"Hee hee hee…" Flowey chuckled weakly. Frisk could tell his laugh was pained. As she looked over him, she noticed bits of his "omega form" (as he had proudly dubbed" were starting to leave him. "Just remember kid, you owe me." He gave a parting wink before his entire body dissipated into the darkness, leaving behind that unmistakable form that consisted of a single green stem, a few leaves, and six yellow petals.

"Thank you." She managed to utter weakly.

He did his best to hide his joy, which he shouldn't even be able to feel. It must be the after effects of wielding those souls.

"Yeah, whatever." He turned away, but not before giving the human a sly smile. Frisk gave a small wave before the lone flower shrunk back into the void of the cave walls.

She jumped a little when she felt pressure on her left shoulder, but relaxed when she recognised its bony texture.

"hey kiddo."

 **And that's a wrap! Thank you for reading, see you around :)**


	2. A New Dawn

**So after considering some ideas and brainstorming a few possible plot points, I've decided what was originally going to be a one-shot will instead be a full-fledged story. I'm hoping it'll be an enjoyable one, so let me know your thoughts, ideas, or (civil) complaints, and I'll see what's what. For know though, enjoy!**

 **Chapter Two:**

 **A New Dawn**

"... And, yeah. That's it." Frisk let out a heavy sigh. Who knew that such intense storytelling to make one so out of breath?

The others had nothing to say. They couldn't. After all, it wasn't everyday you found out you were brought back from the dead through the ashes of a child, with the help of a soul-fueled flower nonetheless. At least Frisk hoped not, anyway.

Toriel was the first to pipe up. "My Child, are you feeling alright? Perhaps this was all just a bad dream?" She asked hopefully. That earned an unbelieving look to Toriel from everyone in the room, even the jovial Papyrus. Frisk shook her head and tried again.

"I know, it may seem a bit much to take in all at once, but you have to believe me! Why would I make up something like this?" She added in her famous puppy eyes, hoping that they would be convinced.

Toriel still seemed unsure, but Undyne looked up from twiddling her claws. "It's cool, dude, we believe ya, we just don't believe our eyes is all." She gave a weak smile in order to lighten the mood.

Frisk looked at her friends. Toriel was holding back a few tears, Undyne was grinning, whereas everyone else nodded at her gently. Then she looked over at Sans, and saw that he was still glancing around the place, left eye bright, and shifting a bone in his hand. Frisk walked over to Sans and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a warm embrace.

"It's okay Sans. They're both gone." She said soothingly, knowing full well what was on the skeleton's mind. Sans looked down at the human, eyes becoming black voids for a second before returning to their surprisingly welcoming white eyes.

"*yeah, i know…" He said, defeated by the humans comforting actions. "but if what you said is true, his aftereffect of wielding those souls should wear off soon, and when that happens, i'll be surprised if As-" He bit down on where his tongue would have been if he had one, stopping himself from talking. He chanced a look at Toriel, who had managed to regain herself, and didn't seem to notice Sans' almost-error. he quickly go back on track.

"*... if FLOWEY." He emphasised quietly. "*didn't try something."

Frisk noticed too, but decided there was no need to bring it up. Instead, she shook her head gently. "No, if he does come back, it won't be out of anger, trust me." She did her best to give Sans a convincing smile. Luckily, it worked. Sans sighed, letting the bone dissipate into nothing.

"*alright, alright. You got me." He gave a low chuckle and ruffled Frisk's hair. "*now how about we get the heck outta here?" Frisk nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, that sounds good." With that, Sans offered his hand, in which she gladly accepted.

"Uh, I hate to break the relaxed mood, but we still got a problem." Undyne cut it. Everyone turned to look at her to ask her what she meant. She simply sighed and jerked her thumb over her back. Everyone looked behind Undyne, and realised what she was talking about. Behind Undyne came the sound of howling wind and with it, a long, tall corridor-shaped passage, alternating between light and dark. Despite Frisk saving her friends and being reunited with them, the barrier was still there, and with the souls no longer in Asgore's possession, it looked like it was there to stay.

A collective silence followed for the longest of time, only to be broken by a mumbled "Rats" escaping Toriel's lips.

However, dark moods weren't Papyrus' speciality, and he was the first to perk up. "HEY! LET'S NOT GET DOWN, EVERYONE!" This sudden outburst caused everyone to jump slightly, even Sans, who would have jumped out of his skin if he had any.

"*pap, the barriers still up, we're to getting to the surface anytime soon." Sans said, his head hanging so low it threatened to roll off of his shoulders.

"BE THAT AS IT MAY, IT IS NOT AS IF WE DON'T HAVE ANYTHING DOWN HERE!" Toriel and Alphys nodded their heads slowly in agreement. "WE HAVE FOOD, WARMTH, GOOD FRIENDS!" Papyrus continued. "AND ALTHOUGH WE CAN'T REACH THE SURFACE JUST YET, WE HAVE MORE TIME TO ADJUST TO THE POSSIBILITY OF IT, RIGHT?" In truth, everyone was gobsmacked, even Frisk. No one had ever expected such a reasonable argument for such a dire situation to come from the least serious of them all. Even Sans had to admit, he was pretty impressed.

"So, then it is decided." Asgore began. "We shall return to our daily lives, but at the same time, continue working on a way to free us all. Alphys?" He turned to the scientist, whose head snapped round in his direction instantly. "I'm assuming you would be happy to conduct this chain of research?"

Alphys nodded her head eagerly. "Y-yeah! Of co-o-ourse I would!" She said uncertainly, but everyone knew she meant it.

"Good, good…" Asgore was clearly pleased with this, yet he couldn't help but trail off. Frisk suspected it was because of the fact that none of them would be going to the surface for a while. Come to think of it, that alone was enough to make anyone upset. "Well, if there are no more questions, I should very much like to get started on this plan. Alphys, would you be kind enough to lead me to your laboratory?"

Alphys nodded rapidly. "S-sure. Ri-ight this way your Maj-jesty." With that, she waddled off, Asgore's thundering footsteps not far behind.

Once the sound of the footsteps had died down, Sans was next to speak up.

"*well. if we're all done here, i'm gonna head to grillby's." Sans looked over to Frisk. "you wanna come, pal?"

Frisk gave her answer by bounding over to Sans and gripping his left arm. "Yes please." She grinned.

"Be safe you two." Said Toriel, motherly instincts already taking over. "And don't let her stay up too late Sans! I mean it this time!" She added with a harmless glare.

"nahh, we'll be fine." Sans promised, much to his disappointment, but not before shooting Papyrus a mischievous look. He noticed.

"YES BROTHER? WHAT IS IT?"

"*oh, nothing. i'm just surprised none of you brought any camping gear." Papyrus' confused expression grew.

"WHY ON EARTH IS THAT?"

"*i just thought that situation was a little…" Frisk braced herself. "in-TENTS."

She only managed to catch a fraction of Papyrus' "worst day ever" rant before Frisk felt a strong wind whipping her face. Her eyes took a moment before adjusting to her surroundings. She was met with a sight of filled booths, a broken jukebox in the corner, and a familiar flame being wiping the counter. Frisk turned to Sans with a smirk.

"You never get tired of that, do you?"

"*nope, never." Sans returned the look. "*c'mon, i'm famished."

Frisk couldn't argue, as she too was starving. Turns out fighting your evil counterpart does that to you, Frisk thought to herself. She shook off the thought, and followed Sans across the room, where he was greeted by a multitude of different monsters. Sans said hi to each and every one of them, and so did Frisk. She gave Greater Dog a little scratch behind the ear before taking a seat at the bar next to Sans.

"*so, whaddaya want?" Sans enquired. He guessed she wanted a burger. Kids love burgers.

"A set of fries, thanks." She responded with a sweet smile.

 _Damn it._

"*sounds good, but i'm more of a burger kinda guy."

Frisk looked him up and down before jokingly saying "Yeah, I can tell." She added in a wink for good measure.

"*you always were a sharp one kid." Sans couldn't stop himself from grinning, before turned back to Grillby. "*hey grillbz, an order of fries for the kid and a burger for me, thanks."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Very well, one moment please." Grillby then turned and exited through the back door. Frisk always wondered what was through there, and even more confused as to why it said "fire exit". She shook her head and fiddled with a loose splinter in the counter.

About four minutes later, Grillby returned with the prized food. Frisk could already feel her mouth watering. She didn't know when she last ate but it had been far too long since she had. Grillby set the food down in front of them, and went back to cleaning the counter. Sans tapped her on the shoulder, and when she turned to him she saw he was dangling a bottle of ketchup back and forth between his fingers.

"*whaddaya say kid? want some?" He asked. Remembering what happened last time, Frisk very politely refused. "*fair enough, more for me then."

Frisk lost her ability to speak as she watched Sans down the entire bottle in one go. Not a single drop had even managed to get on his food. Once he had placed the empty bottle back on the counter and looked over at Frisk's expression, he did his best to stifle a laugh that threatened to escape. As soon as it was under control, he picked up his burger and took a bite.

"*c'mon kiddo, eat up. you need it." That was the last he spoke for a while as he chowed down on his burger. Giving up trying to understand the short skeleton, Frisk soon attacked her small tray of fries.

A couple of moments later, Sans spoke. "*hey, mind if i ask you something?"

Frisk, with a mouth full of fries, shook her head.

"*what really happened back there?"

'Back there.' There was only one place he meant.

"Wha- I told you…?" Frisk said hesitantly.

Sans gave a small fake laugh and slowly shook his head. "*frisk, I know that flower didn't just kill chara and save us out of the kindness of his proverbial heart. what does he want?"

Frisk didn't feel threatened by Sans. She never did, but she'd be lying if she said she wasn't a little nervous right now.

"He wants out." She said plainly.

"*out?" He scoffed. "*kid, as soon as he gets the chance, he'll stab you in the back. and i mean he will ACTUALLY stab you in the back. Frisk shook her head frantically.

"I know you're suspicious, and you've every right to be, but he's change. I know he has." Sans gave her a "really?" look. Nonetheless, she continued. "There's still good in him. I can feel-" Frisk quickly lowered her voice. "I can still feel Asriel within him." Frisk didn't know what it was, but something about that name seemed to affect Sans in ways she didn't fully understand. At the mention of the name, Sans' expression vanished, and he simply turned back to his half-eaten burger.

"*i know" Came a painful whisper. That was the last he said before he started eating again. Frisk felt like she should say something, anything to try and comfort him, but she knew deep down that it wouldn't do any good. So, having exhausted all her option, Frisk too went back to her food.

A little while afterwards, Frisk and Sans bade the others a good night, but not before Sans insisting that he would pay up soon. They turned left and started to walk towards the skeleton Bros' house.

There was a pleasant mood about the air tonight, despite the fact Frisk had been fighting for her life and on the brink of death, literally not half an hour ago. But when she was with a close friend, enjoying life as she should, it felt like a lifetime ago. The soothing sound of their feet crumpling against the snowy ground helped too. Frisk let her eyes close and relished in the feeling of the light snowflakes dancing across her face. Even though it was about a minute's walk from the bar to the house, Frisk still managed to enjoy it. When they got to the front door, Sans turned to Frisk.

"*well, i don't know about you, but i'm freezing my bones off. 'night." Frisk received one last look from Sans before he walked towards the door.

"Wait, Sans. Wha-" But Sans had already teleported inside. "Sans you can't just leave me out here!" Frisk said with a shiver and a quick laugh knowing, well, hoping that Sans was only playing around. Frisk breathed a sigh of relief once she heard unlocking on the other side. Sans' cheeky grin appearing seconds afterwards.

"*can i help you?" He asked casually, finding it hard to maintain even a semi-serious face.

"Yes, thank you." Frisk stated, before letting herself in, past Sans, and headed straight up the stairs. As she did so, she heard Sans' form already plopping down on the sofa. She rolled her eyes to herself and kept heading up the stairs. Frisk walked along the corridor to Papyrus' room when she stopped. There was a third door. There was never a third door here before. Frisk immediately leaned over the banister to enquire about it. "Uhh… Sans?" She called out. The skeleton looked up from flicking through the TV channels.

"*yeah?"

"There's a third door here."

"*yeah?"

"Well, there wasn't last time I was here?" Frisk prompted, hoping Sans would catch onto what she meant. His eye sockets widened marginally.

"*oh yeah." He seemed to get it, finally. "*figured you'd had enough of spending your nights on the couch, so me and pap build you your very own room." He finished with a smile. This time it was Frisk's turn to widen her eyes.

"Really?!" She stood there for a moment, trying to process her own gratitude. "That's…" She paused, struggling to find the words. Luckily, Sans found them for her.

"*ah, save it kiddo. after everything you've done for us, it's the least you deserve." With a smile on his face, he turned his attention back to yet another MTT broadcast. Frisk wondered to herself how she came to having such an amazing group of friends, and with that, she turned around to open her door. She grabbed the doorknob and took a small breath, before opening the door. After the day she had had, Frisk looked forward to collapsing onto her bed and never waking up again. That was, until she noticed something unusual. Upon paying more attention to it, it was beyond awful. It was on the walls, the floor. Some of it had even managed to find its way onto the ceiling. Frisk's hands rushed to her mouth as they failed to stop the scream that escaped Frisk's mouth. Not two seconds afterwards, Sans appeared by Frisk's side.

"*frisk? what the heck is…" He trailed off as he noticed Frisk's room. "*oh." Was all he said.

The entire room was bright pink.

 **Hope that was enjoyable/bearable for you guys. Catch you later!**


	3. Rude Awakening

**That's right, me again, here to bring you the third chapter for this series. Hopefully you guys are enjoying this story as much as I am writing it, let me know if you think the same or any different :) Alright, enough babling, let's get into it!**

 **Chapter Three:**

 **Rude Awakening**

Nothing was said between the two for a good minute or so, they just took in the sight before them. The silence was broken when Sans let out a heavy sigh. Frisk turned to face him.

"What? What is it?" She asked, noticing Sans' tired expression.

"*i left pap in charge of painting, but i told him to paint it blue…"

"Oh, I see." Frisk then spotted a lone scrap of paper on the ground. She strolled over to it and picked it up. She already recognised the handwriting, it was all in uppercase after all. Nevertheless, she took it and studied it over. It read:

 _ATTENTION HUMAN! MY DEAR BROTHER HAS TASKED ME WITH DECORATING YOUR NEW ROOM. FEAR NOT, FOR I HAVE BEEN STUDYING ONE OF ALPHYS' HUMAN HISTORY BOOK THAT SHE WAS SO KIND TO LEND TO ME! IT CLEARLY SHOWS THAT EVERYTHING A FEMALE HAS IS BRIGHT PINK. I REGRET TO INFORM YOU THAT HAD I MORE TIME, I WOULD HAVE COVERED EVERYTHING IN PINK! WHEN I RETURN, WE SHALL MAKE THAT HAPPEN!_

 _NYEH HEH HEH,_

 _PAPYRUS x_

When Frisk set down the letter on the dresser, she actually found it quite difficult to be annoyed with Papyrus. Sure, he had gone and painted her room in her most hated colour ever, but she couldn't help but admire the good of his intentions. Sans gently nudged Frisk.

"*no worries, kid, i got this." That was all he said before he disappeared out the room. Before Frisk had time to question what he was doing, he was back. But now he had a paint can and several paint brushes with him. He turned to Frisk. "*you may wanna stand back a bit." He said with a wink. Frisk did as she was told and backed out into the doorway.

Sans curled his fingers as his left eye started to burn a cyan-coloured flame. Almost immediately, all the brushes were enveloped in a blue haze, and floated upward. They then set about dipping themselves in the paint and rushing to different parts of the room. They all coated the room with blue paint to a slow methodical rhythm, even coming back to reload themselves at the same time. Before too long, nearly half the room was blue, and not a drop had gotten onto any of the furniture. Frisk just stood there, bewildered by what she was witnessing. She knew Sans was good with his magic (as she found out during a timeline she'd love to forget) but to see everything in sync and in control, Frisk had to admit she was impressed.

A couple of minutes later, the brushes left the walls and retreated back to hover over the paint can. Sans suddenly opened his eyes and let out a few gasps, and rested his hands on his kneecaps. At the same time, the brushes lost their haze and dropped into the can with a _gloop_ , sending a few blue drops across the carpet. When Sans' breathing was stable, he looked over to Frisk.

"*ah, sorry about that. i've never had to use that much energy before." Frisk did her best to suppress a joke about how he's never used ANY energy before, but she decided she should just left the poor guy be.

"Thank you Sans, this looks wonderful." Frisk said as her eyes wandered around the room, admiring the skeleton's handiwork. "But I was gonna ask if it could be green before you ran off." When Sans' eyes turned to voids, she quickly added "Don't worry, I'm joking." She said with a smile. Sans just shrugged his shoulders.

"*makes no difference to me, i'm not gonna be doing that again." He winked. Frisk just rolled her eyes. She was about to make another snarky remark before Sans cut in. "*no more talking now, you need your sleep." Not taking no for an answer, Sans had already disappeared.

"If you say so." She smiled as she murmured to herself, all too aware of how much today had drained her. So much so, she didn't even bother to get changed into her pajamas. No, Frisk simply kicked off her shoes, pulled back the covers, and hopped in. She pulled the sheets up, and not two seconds after her head hit the pillow, Frisk was asleep.

 _Frisk…_

She unconsciously shifted in her bed a little, trying to get comfortable.

 _Frisk… I'm still here you know…_

Her left eye twitched ever so slightly, while a few beads of sweat gently trailed down her temple.

 _WAKE UP FRISK! THERE'S SOMEONE WHO WANTS TO MEET YOU!_

Frisk's ears pounded as they were assaulted by a deafening banging noise. She covered her ears, only to find that every part of her was being restrained by longer, jaged, slender hands. The all started to move to her face, covering her ears, mouth, and then her eyes. She cried out in terror for someone, anyone to help her.

*...but nobody came.

Frisk's form exploded out of the mess of cover, gasping for air. She looked around the darkened room frantically, looking for any sign of those hands, or 'her'. After a few moments of careful looking and listening, Frisk was satisfied that there was no chance of her being murdered in the middle of the night. Her attention was then drawn to a knocking on the window. That must have been what those 'explosions' were, she thought to herself. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be just a stray vine being pushed against the window by the wind. Slightly peeved that she had been woken with the help of such a mediocre object, she flopped her head back onto the pillow, hoping she'd get at least another few hours sleep. She had just closed her eyes when they shot open again.

She's been woken up by a vine. A _vine_. Frisk hastily turned in her bed to find that the vine was still there, and still tapping on the window. But this time, Frisk could hear that the wind outside had died down. She gulped, but decided she had to know for sure. Slowly, Frisk eased the cover off of her and swung her bare feet round to place them on the floor, wincing. Sure, the floor in her room was a carpet, but that didn't stop it from getting cold in the night. She kept her eyes firmly locked on the lone vine as she made her way across her room, towards the window. As soon as she got near it, the tapping ceased, and the vine shrunk down past the window and disappeared from view. Frisk's fingers reached under the window frame and slid it open. Instantly she was greeted with the cold sting of the winter town. Frisk shivered, but she didn't let it distract her. Instead, she looked down at the side of the house, and there, sitting in the snow (looking quite cold himself) was her old friend. Frisk let out a quiet gasp, and he looked up at her. He wordlessly motioned towards the front of the house before disappearing into the ground.

Frisk raced back to her room and pulled on her shoe, when she stopped. She had to be very quiet, so she wouldn't alert the other two to her intentions. Silently, she pulled on her fleece and crept down the stairs, making sure to avoid the step she knew always creaked. Once she reached the front door, she slowly unhooked the chain from its place and turned the handle. She winced as she was blasted with cold air once more. As she shut the door behind her, she took her first step before she felt something pushing it back up. Frisk looked down to see none other than Flowey barely holding back her foot.

"Woah! You almost got rid of me there!" He exclaimed. He was wearing his friendly smile, but Frisk kept her wits about her, just in case. Frisk quickly apologised to him and put her foot back on the ground. It was then, when the porch light hit Flowey's face, did Frisk really see what Flowey was like. There was an incision along his stem, one of his petals had been half torn off, and he had a few bruises adorning his face. How flowers could bruise, Frisk would never know, but they were definitely there, and they definitely looked painful.

"As!" Flowey winced at the abreviation of a name that was once his. "What happened to you?" Frisk demanded, wanted to hear an explanation pronto.

"Well… As your skeleton friend would put it, I had a bad time. Hee he…" Flowey was cut off as a look of pain streaked across his face, causing him to bend his stem and arch over in pain. Frisk couldn't help but kneel down and comfort the flower. He shook his head, and forced himself to continue. "N-agh… No, it's alright." He straightened back up, only to look more pained than he was before. Flowey took a deep breath. "I guess wielding those souls comes at a price, huh?" He tried to crack a smile, but the smallest of movements caused agony to rupture through his small body. Frisk pulled back in confusion.

"Wait, the souls? _They_ did this to you?" He nodded slowly.

"Turns out they don't take too kindly to being forced into a body of pure evil. I suppose it didn't matter if used them to bring back your friends, although maybe they would have killed me otherwise…" He trailed off, as if he were considering this properly for the first time.

"Well… Would you at least come in?" Frisk motioned to the door, hoping she would at least get a chance to look over his injuries. Flowey shook his head.

"Nah, your friend would tear me to shreds as soon as he saw me. You know he still doesn't trust me." Frisk wanted to argue back, but she knew he was right.

"Just promise me you'll see me tomorrow, by the waterfall?" Flowey rolled his eyes.

"I'll think about it."

Knowing Flowey for so long, Frisk knew that was as close to a yes as she could get from him. She flashed him a small smile before turning to open the door.

"Goodnight." She called behind her, but he was already gone. As Frisk shut the door, movement stirred in a nearby bush. Once the lights in her room went out, the flaming blue eye in the bush disappeared.

He had seen everything.

 **Someone turn on the AC cuz it's getting hot in here! Haha, seriously though, next chapter should include some dramatic tension (Mettaton would be proud). Thanks again, and see you next time!**


	4. Close Encounters

**Thought it would be a good idea to switch up setting for this chapter, focusing on Alphys and Asgore this time round. Just wanted to expand the story is all, don't panic! Anyhoo, enough talk, more read. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter four:**

 **Close Encounters of the Nerd Kind**

Alphys quickly emptied the contents of the dog food bag into several bowls and set them all in the center of the room. She hurried out the door, and locked it behind her. She then joined a very nervous Asgore at an observation window and waited. After a few moments, white goo started to drip down from the ceiling and ran down the walls. Another cluster of it seeped through the floor tiles and rose upward. From these creatures, Asgore could just about make out a face, no, faces, that he seemed to recognise. As they came to a halt in front of the bowls, one of the heads seemed to detach itself and land in the bowl, absorbing all the food in a matter of seconds. Afterwards, the lone head reattached with its host, before turning to face the window. Both Alphys and Asgore shifted uncomfortably, but the amalgamation simply nodded it heads before cracking a wide grin - far too wide for Alphys' liking - and disappeared into the floor. After a few moments, she took a handkerchief from one of her coat pockets and proceeded to wipe her brow clean of sweat. She looked at the King, who seemed to have difficulty adjusting to this uncomfortable situation.

"Haha… S-sorry ab-out that… They, uh, get kind of c-cranky when they're n-n-not fed." She did her best to smile, but her own nerves just wouldn't allow it. Asgore shakily raised a hand.

"It's okay, Alphys, I just… Wasn't sure what to expect when you told me there were strange beings down here." Asgore's own smile seemed to calm Alphys down considerable, enough to remember their original purpose for coming down here. "Sh-shall we continue, S-Sir?"

He nodded his large head. "Please." He motioned for Alphys to continue leading him deeper into the lab.

"A-alright then." With that, Alphys unlocked the door again and, after double-checking for any amalgamations, lead Asgore through a door labeled " **DT RESEARCH** ". At the door, Alphys typed in her four-digit passcode, which gave with with a quick _hisssssss_. Once they were both inside, the door shut behind them. Even though Alphys had been working down here for years, the sudden noise still got her by surprise. Shaking it off, she walked over to a group of cabinets that were able to slide outwards. She skimmed a few handles with her fingers, before finding the one she was looking for.

"Here it is." She murmured to herself. Her hand closed around one of the metal handles and pulled. The cabinet slid back, emitting an awful screeching sound, causing Asgore's big paws to rush to his ears. Once the dust from the sudden movement had cleared, both Asgore and his royal scientist peered inside. Inside the drawer was a long, cylinder jar, and inside _that_ was a bright orange liquid. Its glow was so intense it illuminated at least half the room, so Alphys and Asgore had to shield their eyes slightly. However, when they adjusted, Asgore's eyes widened in wonder.

"So." He began, still a little shaky from the previous encounter. "This is it?"

Alphys hoisted the jar out from its holder, nodding. "Yep. This is… Well this is pure DETERMINATION." Handling it with some difficulty, Asgore moved towards her.

"Would you care for a hand?" He asked, seeing that Alphys wasn't accustomed to lifting such a heavy object. Still, she shook her.

"No thank you Sir." She grunted. "I've… just about… got it." Finally, she set the jar down on the counter, and flicked on the overhead spotlight. "Okay… First off…" Alphys didn't get to tell Asgore her plan as she was interrupted by a rather loud sound. Something like the smashing of glass combined with the groaning of bending tubes. Asgore looked ready to panic again, but Alphys just let out a heavy sigh. "Please uh, stay here Sir. I know what it is." Knowing he could confide his trust in his scientist, he nodded.

"Very well, I shall remain here then." He took a lab chair and sat down, which creaked under his wait. "But please don't take too long." He added, sweat already starting to form on his head. Alphys give him a small thumbs-up before heading out the door, and made her way down the corridor.

She knew exactly what it was, and to be honest, she was starting to tire of it. Yes, she had grown accustomed to this environment and its… inhabitants, but that didn't mean she liked it. She turned a corner and came to a dark room. She was about to reach for the nearby light switch when she stopped. Her ears picked up a sound she had never wanted to hear again. And before she could brush it off as paranoia, her eyes sadly confirmed it for her. Despite the gloom of the room before her, she could just about make out a large shape in the center. She didn't need to study it for long before knowing what it was.

Loud, deep, and heavy breathing filled the room, along with the hissing of machinery. As Alphys' eyes started to adjust, she could make out more and more of her worst nightmare. She found a millisecond of spare time in her brain to curse herself for ever creating such a monster, even if it was just a… flower. Now she could make out all of it. The snapping of the jaws, the bulging of the pipes, and the breathing. He had finally come back to kill her. Fighting back the tears that threatened to spill, and feeling as though she should face her worst fear head-on, she flicked on the lights, and braced herself.

The DT extraction machine came into view.

Alphys just stared. She felt like slumping back against the wall and holding her head in her hands. This time she really did cry. Drops of tears moistened the sleeves of her lab coat as she wiped her eyes with her arms. Other monsters had always said that at the final moments of your life, you see it flash before your eyes. Alphys had always been skeptical of this, but now she could say that she was among them. After a few minutes, she forced herself to get to her feet and, still sniffing a little, proceeded to where the noise had come from. She knew exactly where she was headed, as it was the same place every time. She walked into the showers and stopped in the centre of the room. She was greeted with the sight of shattered glass from the lights, and over that was one of the air conditioning pipes, snapped clean in half, with a thin trail of slime leaking down from it. Alphys reached into her right coat pocket and produced a single biscuit in the shape of a bone, and held it above her head.

"Here boy!" She called out as she shook the treat above her head. Soon enough, the entire room seemed to resonate, and Alphys prepared herself. Seemingly out of nowhere, Endogeny suddenly sprouted from the walls and bounded towards Alphys. However it stopped once it saw the treat in Alphys' hand. It sat its amorphous body on the floor and waited.

"You want this boy?" Alphys asked, knowing full well what the answer would be. Endogeny responded by creating an orifice somewhere on its body and allowing a single tendril to roll out, producing that infamous orange liquid from the tip of its tongue. Naturally, Alphys was disgusted, but she didn't budge. Instead, she turned to one of the shower cubicles, pulling back her arm and aiming. "Then go get it!" Alphys, with all her might, threw her arm forward and released the biscuit. As soon as she did, the amalgamation rose and chased after it. The treat landed in a shower and disappeared into the drain. Endogeny wasn't far behind. With one great motion, he lept into the shower and shoved his head into the drain. Within seconds, almost all of its body was down the drain, save for its giant tail, which eventually disappeared with something that sounded like a muffled woofing. Satisfied that they wouldn't be disturbed again for another few days, Alphys puffed her chest out proudly and exited it room. She locked the door behind her and started to trek back to the research room, ready to work on a way to end the monsters' entrapment once and for all.

A few minutes later, Alphys walked through the lab door, where Asgore was waiting patiently. His expression brightened when he saw Alphys again.

"Ah, Alphys, you've returned." He said thankfully. "Truthfully, I was starting to get a little nervous. I am quite unfamiliar with these surroundings." Alphys nodded understandingly.

"Yeah, t-this place gives me th-the chills too." Her eyes widened a little. "Sir." She added. Asgore gave a cheery smile before signalling to the glowing jar.

"Shall we?" He asked. Alphys needed no other encouragement to start working. "So." Asgore began. "Where do we start?"

"W-well, DETERMINATION is the product of human souls. It's w-what they use in order to achieve something. Monsters have it too, but it's nowhere near as powerful as a human's." She said with a tone of sadness. Alphys always thought humans were fascinating, and she wanted to be as strong-willed as one. But how could she do that when she couldn't even be as strong as another monster? Before Asgore noticed her mood, she continued. "So, I've been trying to rewrite the DNA of human DETERMINATION to make it more compatible with monster DNA. Injecting pure DETERMINATION into a monster straight off the bat is the height of foolishness. I'd know because I even tried it on a few subjects." Although he wasn't as intelligent as Alphys in that respect, Asgore did his best to follow along.

"These subjects, where are they? What happened to them?" Alphys' head dropped a little.

"Well, y-you met some of them al-already…" She said, unsure of how the King would react. he did, but not in the way she expected. He dropped down on one knee so he was just about Alphys' height, and rested a paw on her shoulder.

"You needn't worry about my reaction Alphys. You were just doing your job, as you should. What happened to those monsters is quite unfortunate, yes. But do not blame yourself for something you couldn't have predicted." She allowed a few tears to escape before shaking her head.

"C-come on, this barrier isn't going to destroy itself." She said as she walked over to the jar. She grabbed a syringe from one of the table drawers and unscrewed the lid of the jar. Alphys slid the point of the syringe into the liquid and extracted a small amount. Once that was done, she replaced the lid and deposited the DETERMINATION into a small tube. Taking that in one hand, she proceeded to roll up her sleeve in order to obtain the DNA of a monster, when she felt a large paw stop her. She turned to see Asgore smiling down at her.

"Alphys, you have but yourself through enough trauma for one day. Take mine instead." With that, Asgore undid the leather straps of his armour covering one of his forearms, and held it out to Alphys. She looked a little taken aback, but saw no point in arguing. Instead, she took out a strap and placed it near Asgore's bicep and tightened it. He winced a little, but didn't tell her to stop, so she assumed he wanted her to continue. As Alphys positioned the needle, she looked up at Asgore.

"This, uh…m-may sting a little." Asgore nodded understandingly. Alphys gave a small breath, and inserted the needle. They both winced. Alphys because she was never good with blood, despite her being a scientist, and Asgore because, well, he was the one getting prodded with a needle after all. Alphys had to hold back a gag as the crimson liquid was sucked into the syringe. She pulled it out, and quickly handed Asgore a cloth to wipe his arm with, before ejecting his blood into another vial. Alphys placed a drop of both Asgore's blood and the DETERMINATION onto separate glass slides and set them under her microscope. She pulled a small remote out of her pocket and turned to a monitor. She clicked the remote in its direction, which caused it to instantly come to life.

"S-senpi… I never knew you felt that way…" Came the vioce of a teenage girl on the screen, cat-like ears coming out of the top of her head. Alphys was sweating buckets in seconds.

"U-uh… T-this isn't… this isn't…" She may have been mumbling, but on the inside she was screaming. Her shaky fingers finally managed to press down on the button to change the channel, and in an instant the girl was replaced by a much more formal-looking screen, instead displaying magnified images of both specimens. Asgore's blood was displayed on the left side of the screen, while the DETERMINATION was displayed to the right. Both looked surprisingly similar, almost unsettlingly so.

"So, um… _this_ is it." She didn't dare chance a look at Asgore, she had already been through enough embarrassment to last a lifetime. Instead, she continued. "Like I said, I've uh, been working on ways to modify DETERMINATION so that a monster can wield it and not lose its structural form." Asgore was truly understanding this time.

"Right… And was had this got to do with the barrier?" He questioned. Alphys was more than happy to answer.

"Well, passing through the barrier requires a monster soul and a human soul. If we get this right, the a monster will be able to wield a soul just as powerful as both, if not even more powerful." She drew in a deep breath, before resuming her explanation. "I've almost got it, but it only just about works on…" Alphys suddenly realised where she was going with this, but the words had already slipped through. "...boss monsters…" She trailed off. Alphys tried to find the words to explain. "B-but I would n-never ask y-you to…" Again, she was cut off.

"Alphys. When I took up the role of King, I swore an oath that I would do anything and everything I could to ensure my people's happiness. If that means taking a risk as big as this, then so be it." He looked over at the jar of bright orange liquid. "Besides, I must redeem myself for the atrocities I have committed." They both knew what he was talking about. After all, they didn't just come across six human souls. As a result, Asgore's LV had risen to 5. "Now please." Alphys could make out thin lines of tears starting to form at the edge of his eyes. "Let us be done with this." Without saying a word, Asgore walked over to a nearby bed and lay himself down on it. He then looked to Alphys and waited for her to proceed.

Alphys wanted to refuse. She really did. But she knew that this may be the best chance at freedom that the monsters have. So, begrudgingly, Alphys walked over to the bed and began hooking him up to wires that would monitor his condition. The screen on the wall switched to one that displayed all of Asgore's vitals. His HP, his ATK, DF, and his soul colour. Once that was all in place, she turned and looked at the syringe full of a glowing orange colour. She picked up the syringe containing the DETERMINATION and walked over to when Asgore lay. Truthfully, she didn't want to hurt the King, but she also wanted to get it over and done with as soon as possible. Alphys could feel her hand trembling. Even as she raised the needle to his neck, her mind was racing with possibilities. What if he didn't survive? What if he became just another amalgamation? Her train of thought screeched to a halt when Asgore placed a paw on her trembling hand. He said nothing to her, but instead guided her hand over to his jugular and smiled at her. He gave her a final nod before closing his eyes, and waited.

Alphys closed her eyes too, but only for a moment. She took a quick breath, made peace with whichever god was listening, and inserted the needle. Alphys then pressed her thumb against the pump and pushed, injecting the DETERMINATION into Asgore's bloodstream. For a few painful seconds, nothing happened. She waited a few more moment, still nothing. She noticed Asgore's eyes were still closed, so she decided to check on him to see if he was okay. Before she could even think about moving her arm, Asgore's eyes shot open, a loud yell erupting from him. Alphys cover her ears. She had never heard the King in this way before, and it was terrifying. He tossed and turned violently on the table, knocking over a few instruments in the process. The sound of loud static caused Alphys to tear her gaze away from the King to look at the screen. All of Asgore's readings were shooting up and down rapidly, and his soul was changing colour faster than she could process. The entire room felt like it was shaking, and it probably was. Alphys turned back to Asgore, who was arching his back up from the bed. She was so distracted by this sight, and so filled with worry that she failed to see the light that had dislodged from the ceiling directly above her. It raced towards her head at speed.

And then everything went black.

Soon afterwards, Alphys opened her eyes again, slowly. As she opened them, she noticed the room had finally stopped shaking. She was pleased for a few seconds until her eyes fell upon the bed on which Asgore was. But he wasn't led down, he wasn't ever arching over in pain. He was sat upright on the edge of the bed, gently rubbing his chest. Suddenly remembering the whole point of this procedure, Alphys' eyes rushed to look over at the screen. Unfortunately, it had fallen to the floor and smashed, making the readings unreadable. She quickly picked herself up and rushed to Asgore's side. She probably would have asked how he was if she weren't absolutely ecstatic to see the result. Instead, she lightly punched Asgore on the shoulder, hoping it would trigger his body's defence mechanism. To her relief, it did. His soul popped out of his chest, ready to do battle. Alphys stopped. Asgore stopped. Both of them stared in wonder at the King's soul. It wasn't his ordinary snow-colour soul, no.

Asgore's soul, was now a healthy shade of _Gold._

 **Told you it was gonna heat up, didn't I? ;) I hope I delivered, and that you guys are satisfied for now. Again, thank you all for your continued support, and I'll be back soon! Seeya!**


	5. New Kid

**So... Holy crap, this story just passed the 500th view mark. I know that not all of those people may not have liked this story, or even read a chapter of it, but it's nice to know that those people gave my story a chance :) I'd also like to mention that I know 500 isn't the biggest total on the website, but it's big to me, so thank you :) Right, enough soppy stuff, time to get to it. [As a side note, I wrote this as if Frisk didn't try to save Monster Kid on the bridge with Undyne]. Enjoy!**

 **Chapter Five:**

 **A New (Monster) Kid on the Block**

All throughout the waterfall, everything lay still and peaceful. The gentle sound of flowing water mixed with the calls of whatever wildlife resided there made for a relaxing atmosphere. For one person though, it was just an annoyance. Ever since his rebirth, Flowey had despised everything and anything even remotely associated with happiness and peace. If he could, Flowey would vomit just at the mere thought. For those few moments when he was Omega, and in all his glory, Flowey actually had to force down feelings of compassion and warmth just so he could defeat Chara. To feel love, you needed a soul, and at that time, Flowey had six. So you can imagine how hard it was to preserve his dignity and stop himself from at least attempting to hug Frisk. Even though she wasn't Chara, she had still managed to show him more love than he had seen in his lifetime, and he had been alive for a very long time.

Breaking his chain of thought, Flowey suddenly noticed a lone spider crawling along a thin branch hanging over the river. It seemed to notice him, and it stopped right where it was. It almost seemed like it was observing Flowey, which, even for him, was a little creepy. He closed his eyes, and summoned a face of his that was his personal favorite. He opened his eyes again, slits for eyes being replaced by black voids with tiny white spots for eyes, and fangs lined up at the front of his mouth. He took a small breath and directed a loud hissing noise at the spider, who seemed completely unphased by this strange act. Flowey gave a sigh as his face melted back into its original form. He simply shrugged his petals and brought a single vine out of the ground. With it, he grasped the branch firmly and snapped it in half in one motion, causing both it and the spider to plunge into the rushing water. He gave a small smirk as he retracted his vine, but stopped when he heard the tapping of a small foot directly behind him. His small head whipped round, and he saw that he was face to face with a little human knee cap. Flowey slowly lifted his head, meeting the eyes of the seventh human, and what was supposed to be his arch nemesis.

"That wasn't very nice now, was it?" She asked simply, wearing a very condescending look. Flowey simply scowled and turned away.

"He was annoying." He muttered to himself. "I'd do the same to you if I could." That time he was loud enough for Frisk to hear, but somehow she could just about hear the self-doubt buried within his voice.

"N'aw, you're all heart." She said mockingly as she bent down to embrace the tiny flower. Flowey gave a sigh as he went limp, letting her hug him. He had tried so many times to resist in the past, but she kept getting what she wanted, so he saw no point in trying to delay the inevitable. After a few seconds, Frisk straightened up, smoothing out the front of her prized jumper.

"So you called me to this gods-forsaken place, now what do you want?" Flowey asked. He didn't know why, but he kind of wanted to help Frisk out. Obviously not because he cared for her, he was just going to use her to get out of the underground, he assured himself.

"I need your help." Frisk said plainly, seeing as there was no reason to beat about the bush. Flowey tried to look disinterested, but couldn't help but raising an eyebrow.

"Go on." He prompted.

"Well, you know the barrier can only be shattered by someone with godly power?" Flowey nodded. He knew that all too well. He had been so close after all. "And someone can only gain those powers with the aid of seven human souls. Now we only have one." She patted her chest for clarity. Flowey's expression turned sour.

"Yeah, I used those souls. So what? I was just trying to become a god, who wouldn't?" He paused for a minute before looking at Frisk questioningly. "Where are you even going with this?"

Frisk held up a finger. "I was getting there." She said with a scowl. Flowey just rolled his eyes. Frisk eyed him before continuing. "It's possible for those who have recently possessed souls to still have a weak link to them, thus knowing their whereabouts." Flowey seemed to understand.

"So… What? You want me to point out these souls for you?" Frisk nodded.

"If you could." She smiled sweetly. "Remember, the sooner we find the souls, the sooner you get out of here." She added, knowing that that would be the selling point for Flowey. Luckily, she guessed right. Flowey drooped his head before looking up at her with a defeated gaze.

"Fine." He said bitterly. "But you had better be right about this! I don't wanna get my hopes up." He turned away. "Not again…" He whispered to himself, too quiet for Frisk to hear.

"It'll be fine, I promise." Frisk said with a comforting smile, which Flowey couldn't help but return, despite his best efforts. "So, where's the closest one?" She asked. Flowey shut his eyes and concentrated. Out of the void came six different coloured auras, varying in shape and six. He looked around until his eyes fell on a yellow one, which happened to be pulsing the fastest and was the largest of the six. When he reopened his eyes, he found that he was facing in the direction of Snowdin.

"That way." He motioned towards the town with one of his leaves. Frisk looked towards the town, before looking back at Flowey, still wearing that damn infectious smile of hers.

"Then let's go." Frisk turned around fully and started making her way back to the town.

"*reuniting this guy with human souls? i don't think so." Frisk immediately spun round to see the short stubby skeleton. He looked the same as always, just as you'd expect him to look. Yet, something about him was more menacing. He had his hands dug deep into the pockets of his coat, same as always, and those fluffy pink slippers he never seemed to take off. But this time his head was tilted forward slightly, so that a menacing shadow was cast across his face. His left eye was also glowing, but this flame in his eye seemed to burn with an energy Frisk had never seen before. She glanced down to her left, and was surprised to see that even Flowey was hiding behind Frisk's leg, trembling at the sight before them. It was then that Frisk felt a sensation she was both glad and worried to have back. As Flowey quivered behind her, she felt his DETERMINATION fade away, and at the same time felt hers return, coursing through her veins once more. At least now, if things went south, she could always try again. Having her power once more, she stepped forward.

"Sans, I know it looks bad, but Flowey can help. He's even agreed to!" She hoped her words would get through to him, hopefully sooner rather than later. Sans just shook his head, chuckling to himself.

"*not happening. you saw what happened the last time this creep got a hold of human souls. who's to say it won't happen again?" At this, Sans clicked his fingers, summoning a mixture of white and blue bones around him. Frisk gulped. If she didn't do something soon, she would (as Sans had said long ago) have a real bad time. As Frisk was working out various battle scenarios in her head, she felt a small tug at the bottom of her left leg. She glanced down at Flowey questioningly.

"I… I can't see the soul anymore." He said, a panicked expression quickly working itself across his face. Before Frisk could respond, she felt a sudden chill was over her body. She looked down and saw that there was a cyan glow coming from within her chest. Frisk instantly knew what this was, and slowly lifted her head to look at the skeleton. Sans now wore an impatient expression, and his left hand was raised and aimed directly at Frisk. A stray tear escaped her eye, wandering down her cheek.

"*i ain't gonna ask again kid. Move." Frisk hesitated for a few seconds before shaking her head, shifting her feet to make her point. Sans just sighed, before extending his arm slightly, getting ready to swipe it sideways. "*don't say i didn't warn ya."

A shrill sound of "Spooky Scary Skeletons" filled the space between them. Everyone froze. Sans' blazing eye looked his shorts' pocket, feeling a vibration resonating from within. He clenched his eyes, and when he opened them again, his white spots were back. He let his arm drop, releasing Frisk from his spell. She rubbed her chest reflexively, as those "soul snares" can hurt if they're active for too long. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He partially turned away from the two, but just enough so that he could still keep an eye on them. Sans flipped it open, and held it up to the side of his skull.

 _AH! BROTHER! I AM LUCKY TO GET AHOLD OF YOU!_ Came Papyrus' voice through the speaker.

"*this gonna take long pap? i'm kinda busy here."

 _I'M SORRY TO INTRUDE SANS, BUT UM… WELL…_

"*spit it out buddy." This time it was Sans' turn to start tapping his foot.

 _IT'S… MONSTER KID, HE'S… NOT HIMSELF…_

Sans' expression changed to one of worry and concern. The same happened with Frisk and Flowey. They strained their ears to try and listen in on what was going on.

"*not himself? w-what do you mean, 'not himself'?"

 _WELL I SAW HIM RUNNING UP TO THE FOREST THIS MORNING. I ASKED HIM WHERE HE WAS GOING, AND HE TOLD ME THAT HE HAD SEEN A UFO, WHATEVER THAT IS… AND THAT HE WAS GOING TO USE IT TO GET REVENGE..._

At this point, Sans was just as confused as everyone else. "*okay, so. kid said he was gonna use a ufo to get revenge… anything else?" He needed to get every detail possible if he was going to understand just what the hell was going on.

 _WELL… HE TOLD ME IT WAS BRIGHT YELLOW, AND, HEART-SHAPED…_

Sans' eyes turned to voids once more. He said nothing as the phone dropped from his hand, smashing on the slightly rocky ground of the waterfall. He walked over to the pair and grabbed them both. Frisk by the collar of her jumper, and Flowey by his stem. In an instant, all three of them were standing in the center of town, right in the middle of the crossroads. Looking around, Frisk noticed a small crowd forming outside the library. She tapped Sans on the shoulder and pointed towards it. He looked over to where she was pointing and gave a small nod, already starting towards it without checking to see whether Frisk and Flowey were following him or not. Frisk looked down at Flowey, who looked back with a very worried expression.

"You don't think…" He began, too afraid to even say his thought out loud. Frisk shook her head slowly, unsure herself. Without another word, both of them ran (and crawled) after Sans.

"BROTHER! HUMAN!" Papyrus left the crowd and greeted them each as they came near. "UM… MR. FLOWER…" He looked down at the flower uncertainly, feeling like they had met somewhere before. Not wanting to change the subject, Sans quickly cut in.

"*pap, where is he? where's -"

" **FRISK! GET OUT HERE. NOW.** "

All four spun to face the direction of where the sound came from. At the same time, the crowd parted, letting whatever was happening in the center be seen by them. As the crowd parted, Monster Kid stepped out from it.

Except… It wasn't Monster Kid. Not anymore. In the middle of the crowd stood a tall monster no one had ever seen before. He wore a shining suit of armour, one that rivaled Undyne's, adorned with a black and orange striped design. He also had long, sharp spikes protruding from the back of his head where his short little bumps used to be. His tail had also grow in size. No longer was it just a stubbly little thing the wiggled left and right, no. this one was long. Long enough to drag behind him on the ground. But perhaps the most out-of-place thing about him was his arms. He never had any before. But now sure enough, attached to his shoulders were two muscular spectral arms, both ending with claws that had nails that were _wayyy_ too big for Frisk's liking. And sure enough, in the center of his chest, Frisk spotted a faint yellow glow. Looks like he had found the soul before they had. Monster's eyes skimmed the crowd, looking over all the scared and confused faces, before his gaze finally met Frisk's. He bared his teeth, not even noticing the small skeleton or flowey beside her. He simply raised his claw and pointed.

" **YOU'RE DEAD.** " Frisk was shocked. She wondered why he was so hostile to her. She thought she was like a role model to him (next to Undyne, obviously), so why would he be acting like this? She thought hard, but it only took her a second to remember what had caused this very abrupt change of opinion.

"Kid, listen! I never meant to let you fall! I was scared too you know!" His expression didn't budge. Frisk tried again. "You have to understand! I'm a kid, just like you. So I should be allowed to be scared of Undyne too!" She could tell Kid had had enough.

" **SHUT UPPPPP!** " He screamed as he suddenly brought his arm upwards fast, creating a crack in the ground that sped towards Frisk, throwing everything in it's path aside. Everyone jumped back in surprise, while the three dived sideways. Sans' eye glowed, and he clenched his fist, summoning several bones around before flinging his on arm forward, sending them straight for Kid. His reflexed had improved considerably, as he twitched one of his fingers, forming a shield in front of him within seconds. Every bone that Sans had flung hit the shield one after the other, collapsing into dust. Kid brought the shield back down, a boastful smirk across his face.

"*this kid pissed me off before, but now?" Sans remarked. Frisk didn't even hear him. Her brain was too busy trying to find a way to ACT her way out of his. She had never been a killer, let alone a fighter, and she wasn't about to start now. As this thought ran through her mind, she snapped out of it when she saw Sans aim a newly-constructed Gaster Blaster right at Kid.

"Sans wait!" She screamed, but she wasn't heard over the Blaster unleashing its beam, bathing Kid in a bright light. Frisk watched in horror as the beam died down, and couldn't help feel both relieved and terrified at that fact that Kid was still there, still standing, thoroughly annoyed. A total of 15 damage out of 1000 had been dealt.

Hoo boy.

Feeling as though she was running out of options, Frisk just decided to walk straight for Kid, despite her friends' shouts at her not to. Kid ceased his attacks, curious as to what Frisk was planning.

" **WHAT?** " He scoffed. His voice was all gravley, and had several pitches mixed into one, making sound so demonic even Flowey would be scared of him. " **COME TO CRAWL FOR FORGIVENESS?** " Frisk just shook her head.

"I… I just want you to stop…" She went in for a hug, but Kid erupted the ground beneath her to push her away.

" **STOP? AFTER WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO ME?** " He shook his head gently, before bringing his eyes back up to meet Frisk's. To her horror, his eyes were now completely white. " **SORRY 'DUDE', BUT THAT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN.** " He raised a claw, ready to finish off Frisk where she lay.

"Then I'm sorry too." Kid looked at her in confusion, before Frisk turned around to face Sans. "NOW!" She yelled. Sans gave a small nod, before firing a barrage of bones at Kid. Again, he brought up the shield, but this time the intensity of Sans' attacks caused it to shatter, thus forcing Kid backwards. At that moment, Flowey had snuck up behind him. He brought a vine up and stretched it in line with Kid's ankle, and pulled it. Kid stumbled onto Flowey's vine and fell over backwards. He gave an angry roar as he got back up, but he found that he couldn't. When he looked over at his arms, he saw that they were being held firmly in place by a blue aura. His feet were also in a similar situation. Kid thrashed around, trying to break the seal, but nothing happened. Sans however was starting to sweat. He teleported over to where Kid lay and towered over him.

"*as, take over would ya?" Flowey nodded, understanding the seriousness of the situation. There would be plenty of time for sarcastic quips later anyway. He brought up four more vines and wrapped them tightly around each of Kid's limbs. Sans removed his magic at Kid's hands and feet, and knelt down on the ground next to him. "*i ain't gonna lie kid, this'll hurt. a lot." Sans said nothing else as he placed a hand onto Kid's chest, and pushed.

Almost immediately, Kid threw his head back and roared in agony. Blue magic from Sans' hand flowed over Kid, enveloping him completely. As he started to change, the yellow glow in his chest grew brighter. Kid's striped armour began to soften and waver, and Frisk could see the cold, hard steel was starting to turn into cotton fabric. The spikes on the back of his head also started to shrink and round, the dangerous points becoming harmless bumps. The ghostly arms too started to melt away, until they were just luminous puddles on the ground. As Kid's screaming got louder, Frisk noticed that Sans was beginning to lift his hand. His sweating rate had also increased.

"*ngh… almost… got it…" He strained. With a finally effort, and several grunts, Sans snapped his hand off of Kid's chest. All three of them looked down at Monster Kid, who's shivering form now lay in a shape in the snow that was much too big for him. Slowly, he opened his eyes, and looked up at them all. He didn't say a word. He simply picked himself up and, after falling over, ran away crying. Sans, Frisk, and Flowey now stared at Sans' hand in wonder. In it, lay a little floating soul, emitting a gentle warm yellow glow. Frisk looked happily at them both.

"One down, five to go."

 **Honestly, I never thought I'd get this far in the story. Thank you all so much for your continued support and I will continue to deliver as best as I can. [Little shout out to Killzone25, for their encouraging reviews and bits of help when I needed it]. Thanks again, and see you soon!**


	6. There's Still Hope

****Holy crap... For those of you who have been following this story, I'm sorry there's been such a delay. I started getting involved with DeviantArt and then school work exploded out of nowhere and I just haven't had much time to work on this :/ I know that's no excuse but still :P However, as a means of apology, I have made an effort to make this chapter long without adding in any filler text. So hopefully I'm forgiven, and enjoy :D****

 **Chapter Six:**

 **There's Still Hope**

"Sans! I'm telling the truth! He's changed!"

Sans was having none of it. He was already making haste back to his home, clutching the soul close to him. He didn't even turn around, but Frisk could sense the disgusted look that was on his face. She decided that perhaps Sans having some time to himself to cool down would be best, so she slowed up a little bit to walk with Flowey.

"He really doesn't like me, does he?" He asked solemnly. Frisk shook her head apologetically.

"I'm afraid not." She said with a heavy look. "But don't worry, we'll get there eventually." Frisk looked down to smile at him, but he was moving along with his head drooped, petals hiding the majority of his face from view. Guessing that he couldn't make eye contact for a while, Frisk instead chose to take a look around her. The best part of the crowd from earlier had dispersed, save for a few lone monsters who stood where they were, furiously tapping away on their mobile phones. Frisk suspected that she would see quite a few statuses about recent events _very_ soon. Monster Kid was still nowhere to be seen, although that was understandable seeing as he had been trying to kill her not twenty minutes ago. She hoped that he would forgive her for leaving him on the bridge like that, preferably sooner rather than later, as she really enjoyed hanging around with him when she could.

But perhaps what she found most distressing about this whole situation was still Flowey. Long ago, he had been a real monster, and not just some flower. He had had arms, legs, ears, and had gone by the beautiful name of "Asriel". Well, Frisk thought it was beautiful anyway. During her time in the ruins, Toriel had show her some old photographs of times that had long past. One of them that had caught her eye the most was a family photo, which had four people in it. Toriel and Asgore stood proudly at the back, beaming. Asgore was in his signature apparel, wearing his purple robes and a golden crown atop his head. Toriel, however, looked completely different, and Frisk remembered having to do a double-take to make sure it was really her. In the photo, Toriel wore a robe similar to Asgore's, but the edges were embroidered with golden lacing, and her shoulders were adorned with little sparkling gems of different shapes and sizes. She too wore a crown on her head, except this one was thinner than Asgore's. In front of them, two children were sprawled out on the floor, gazing at the camera. One monster, one human. On the right, Toriel had introduced him as Asriel, her son. She told Frisk about how the children used to spend hours playing around in the flower garden, and how she wished for times to be like those again. Frisk was a little startled when she saw a drop of water hit the frame of the photo, and looked up to see Toriel to see her shedding a few tears. Frisk responded by giving her a warm hug, and the two left the room, leaving the photo on her bed. The other child in the photo had had it's face scratched off, but Frisk didn't want to ask who that was, and later, she didn't need to.

She was so caught up in remembering her time with Toriel that Frisk didn't notice she was about to slam straight into the bone bros' front door until she felt a small vine tugging on the hem of her shorts. She shook her head briskly before turning to the flower and smiling thankfully.

"Phew, thanks." She said gratefully.

She thought she heard Flowey mumble something along the lines of "don't mention it" before he lifted up his head to look at her.

"Well, you had best be getting inside then, don't want old Sansey to be getting worried about you." He said with a wink, but Frisk could tell the thought of having to answer to Sans still terrified him. With that, Frisk made up her mind. Just before Flowey could crawl away, Frisk jumped over him and stood in his way. Flowey looked at her questioningly, but before he could ask, Frisk gave him his answer.

"If you think you're spending another night out here, you've got another thing coming mister." She put her hands on her hips and leaned to one side, raising an eyebrow at him. Flowey just scowled.

"Christ, you sound just like my…" He trailed off as his eyes widened, and so did Frisk's. But Flowey quickly continued as soon as he had stopped. "Anyway, even if I did want to step inside, you may have noticed I can't, what with me having roots and all." He gave Frisk a very condescending look, wondering how she could have been so blind. Frisk was a little taken aback, more so at herself than Flowey. Honestly, she hadn't thought about this, but her face quickly brightened when and idea came to her.

"Wait right here." She beamed.

"What? What are you-" But Frisk had already turned around, unlocked the door, and shot inside. Flowey was left there for a few moments, and he slid to one side in order to get a better view of the inside of the house. His eyes skimmed over the furnature, noticing the warm atmosphere that seemed to irradiate off of a simple couch and other various furniture. It was then that Flowey realised there was a pained feeling coming from the center of his chest, and he realised that he was feeling homesick. He missed the feeling of being able to come home and be showered with love. He figured there was still a fraction of soul power left in him, slowly draining away. Just as well, he hated being on the cusp of being able to care, and the sooner it left him, the better. Flowey just stood there, scowling to himself. Just as he was admiring the particularly detailed painting of a bone on the wall, Frisk reappeared in the doorway, holding a blanket with a suspicious looking shape under it. He couldn't stand the way she was smiling at him. Ugh.

"Here we go!" She said enthusiastically. Flowey eyed the shape cautiously.

"What, is _that_?" He spat, wondering how long the human would keep him waiting. At this rate, just about anywhere else seemed more attractive than spending the night here. With that, Frisk pulled off the blanket, revealing what she had been holding the whole time. Flowey's eyes shot open, but his face quickly degenerated into a look of disgust, which he aimed fully at Frisk.

"Go to Hell."

…

"Ah Sans, you're back!"

As Sans walked through the front door, Toriel's warm and welcoming voice floated through his house from the kitchen, accompanied by that delightful smell of her infamous pie. She leaned back and poked her head around the frame of the doorway, and smiled. "What happened out there?" Sans didn't know what it was, but all of his worries and negative thoughts just seemed to melt away whenever he heard Toriel. His expression instantly brightened.

"*eh, nothing major. kid was a little out of order, but we worked it out." He decided not to tell Toriel the full story. He had had enough drama for one day. He turned to look at Toriel, who seemed satisfied. She gave him a smile and turned back to her pie. Sans gratefully returned it and proceeded to walk up the stairs. At that moment, Sans heard a loud crashing behind him and turned quickly to see Frisk almost rip the door off of its hinges. Sans opened his mouth to speak, but Frisk had already shot past him, a gleeful look on her face. Within seconds, she was in and out of Papyrus' room, already heading back towards the front door. He wanted to question it, he really did, but there were other things to worry about, like if he could make it to his bed before collapsing.

Sans heaved his body up the last few steps and walked along the top floor of his house. As soon as he reached the door to his bedroom, he flung it open, strolled inside, and kicked it shut with his foot. His eye flashed blue, and a cyan spark came from the door's lock, which clicked into place. Sans then reached into his pocket and pulled out a little glass container which housed the little yellow soul. Not wanting to deal with anymore stressful topics today, he placed the soul on the edge of his drawer. He then slumped over to his bed and flopped, face-first, onto it, going out like a light within seconds.

Downstairs, in the kitchen, Toriel had donned the oven mitts and was in the process of pulling her freshly-made pie out of the oven. However, this wasn't her ordinary butterscotch-cinnamon pie, oh no. This time, it was a cinnamon-butterscotch pie. Toriel chuckled to herself. Sans would be proud. As she placed the pie on the counter, she heard the front door open for the second time, and was delighted to see Frisk again.

"My child! You have returned!" She moved to Frisk to embrace her, but stopped herself, as she didn't want Frisk to drop what she was carrying. As she noticed what it was that Frisk was carrying, she smiled quite uneasily at it. "Oh, um.. Hello again…" A very humiliated-looking Flowey was being held by Frisk in a little ceramic flowerpot, adorned with cute little red hearts. He glanced up at Toriel, his already-shattered pride not allowing him to look her dead in the eye.

"Hi." Was all he said. A moment of extremely awkward silence remained for what felt like ages between the three of them, before Frisk managed to pipe up.

"Pie looks delicious Mom! I'll be down in a minute!" With that, she gripped the flower pot tightly and high-tailed it up the stairs and straight into her room, slamming the door rather loudly behind her. Toriel was left in the kitchen with her mouth hanging slightly open, before shaking her head and wondering to herself how such a strange child managed to wind up in her care. She gave it no more thought as she turned back to sprinkle the final coatings of sugar on the pie.

As Frisk took a step into her room, she kicked the door shut with her heel, only realising too late that there were no sources of light anywhere, and in an instant the two were swallowed up by the darkness. Frisk couldn't help but let out a little squeal, and somewhere in front of her, she heard a dark chuckle in response. Annoyed that Flowey wasn't getting any friendlier anytime soon, she sat him down on the floor in front of her and moved over to the wall, where she began feeling around for the light switch. After a few seconds, her fingers thankfully brushed against it, and without hesitation she flipped on the lights. In an instant, a warm light flooded the room, revealing her cosy little haven in all its glory. However, her attention was soon drawn to where Flowey was situated, as he was bent over with his eyes clenched shut. Frisk could just about make out a low groaning sound, and realised she hadn't given Flowey any sort of warning before turning on the lights. She suddenly felt bad about herself, and walked over to Flowey to pick him up.

"Oh God, I'm so sorry As'!" She said sincerely as she picked up the small flower, who was rubbing his eyes with a leaf. Once he was finished, he looked up at Frisk with strained eyes.

"Yeah, yeah…" Was all he said. Figuring Flowey was just as tired as she was, Frisk picked him up once more and set him down on the side of her dresser. Remembering that a pie was calling her name, she headed for the door and turned to Flowey.

"I'm just going downstairs, but I'll be back in a minute." She smiled and turned to leave, but not before looking back with a quizzical expression. "Um… Do you need to eat?" Flowey just stared at her. "I mean… Is it necessary for you?" Wearing a dumbfounded expression, Flowey just shook his head disappointingly.

"Look buddy, I'm a flower. What do you think?" He asked with a sarcastic tone. Frisk debated arguing with him, saying that she was only trying to be nice, but she thought better of it. Instead, she decided to give out a sigh and head out of her room, closing the door behind her. Listening to her footsteps die down and Toriel's voice warmly greet Frisk didn't help his attitude, so he just sat in his pot (not that he had a choice) and gazed around the room.

However, not two seconds after he was starting to feel relaxed, he suddenly felt himself being lifted up by an unseen force, causing him to attempt to yell out in surprise. Attempt, as he quickly found that a tingling feeling surrounding his mouth was forcing it shut, rendering him unable to make a sound. He succeeded only in letting out a muffled sound, barely louder than a whisper. As Flowey frantically looked around the room, his gaze was drawn to two pieces of pink fluffy fabric just barely visible from the shadows. Flowey didn't need to give it a second thought. He didn't say anything, but he narrowed his eyes at a particularly dark corner of Frisk's room. He was greeted by a flash of a glowing blue eye, before the figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing exactly who Flowey had been expecting. The figure didn't say anything. He just walked up to the suspended flower and held out his hand, letting Flowey to drop into it. As Flowey gazed into the two black voids, he couldn't help but notice the beads of sweat that were rolling down his face. After what seemed like ages of pained silence, it was broken.

"*think it's high time we had a chat."

…

A few minutes later, a certain human child was making her way back up the stairs, a plate with a slice of pie in each hand. For all she had been through, she was wearing a very cheerful expression. Truth is, after Flowey had saved both her and her friends' lives, she decided she should at least try to express her gratitude. And was she had what she needed, that was exactly what she was going to do. Once she got to her door, she didn't go inside. Instead, she set down one of the plates with full intention of coming back for it later. She couldn't help but lick her lips at the mere thought of it. Grasping the other plate in her hands, she made her way down the corridor to Sans' room. At first, she noticed the ominous orange aura wasn't spilling out from under his door, which instantly seemed odd to her. Sans was always performing magic in there, so to see no trace of it whatsoever was already ringing alarm bells in Frisk's head. Nonetheless, she gave a few raps on the door.

"Saaaaans!" She called to him. "Your pie's here!" She stood outside and waited. Nothing happened. She gave the door a few knocks again. Nothing happened. "I swear Sans, if you're asleep again…" She called through the door with a mildly threatening tone. Still nothing. With a huff, she decided to do something about it. "Alright, brace yourself, I'm coming in!" She waited a few more seconds, just to confirm if he had any objections, before turning the door handle and opening the door. As soon as Frisk was inside, she just stared. Sans was nowhere to be seen, and he wasn't anywhere in the house either. Not even his miniature tornado was active, all the papers and bones just lay scattered across the floor. As strange as this was, Frisk knew that the skeleton could take care of himself, wherever he was. Besides, Frisk thought to herself, it made her job a whole lot easier. She closed the door behind her and, checking around to see if someone could see her even though she was in a tiny room, pulled a bracelet out of her short's pocket. When Toriel announced that she wouldn't retreat back to the ruins, and would instead live with the skeletons, she gave a special bracelet to Frisk as a means of an apology. Toriel had told her that it would help her find that which she wants most. So now was a good of a time as any to try it out, Frisk reasoned. Without waiting any longer, she balled her hand into a fist around the bracelet and clenched her eyes shut. Keeping her eyes shut, Frisk began speaking very slowly to herself.

"I know what I want. I know what I want. I know what I want." She repeated this a few times, all the while keeping the image of the small yellow soul clear in her mind. Soon enough, Frisk felt her hand gently vibrate, and she open her eyes. In her hand, the bracelet was now rumbling ever so slightly, and there was a small red dot that also glowed on the back of the bracelet. But as Frisk rotated the bracelet to get a better look, at it, she found that the red dot moved along it and situated itself at the back once more. Realising how it worked, she looked over at where the dot was pointing, which happened to be Sans' bed. Sure enough, as Frisk moved over to the bed, the vibrating intensified. She got on her hands and knees and looked under the bed. Frisk didn't bother moving anything around or searching harder as she knew that the glow of the soul would stand out rather clearly against the gloom of under Sans' bed. Instead, she thought about where she would hide it if she were Sans, and her first thought was under the pillow.

Getting up, Frisk's hands moved under Sans' pillow and started feeling around. Almost instantly, her fingers knocked against what felt like a glass jar, and the buzzing of the bracelet stopped. Knowing she had found it, she wrapped her hand around it and pulled it out from under the pillow. She felt a surge of pride flow through her as a familiar warm glow bathed her face, so much so she almost had to shield her eyes from the light. Her small victory was cut short however, as she realised she was still in as good as a restricted area. Straightening up, she thrust the jar into her pocket along with her bracelet, and hurried out of the room before she was caught. Of course, Sans was bound to notice, but hopefully she could do what she needed to before he did.

Back outside her own door, Frisk hastily picked up her own slice of pie and slipped inside, eager to make it seem like nothing was out of the ordinary. As soon as the door was shut, she walked straight over to Flowey, picked him up (despite his protests) and set him on her bed next to her. Flowey didn't know what was happening, but he was thoroughly discomforted by Frisk's larger-than-life smile.

"C'mon then, what is it now?" Not two seconds in, and Flowey was already tiring of conversation. Frisk however, took no notice. Instead, she placed her hand in her pocket, ready to present her solution to Flowey's predicament.

"Well." She began. "I haven't had the chance to thank you for, you know, saving all of our lives." Flowey realised she was gearing up for some soppy speech, and was instantly disgusted. He rolled his eyes.

"Look kid, I saved your lives, yeah. But did you ever think that was because I needed you and your friends to get out of here?" Frisk flinched a little, but Flowey still noticed, and pushed more. "What? You thought I would miss you if you were gone?" His face morphed into one with fangs and hollow eyes, with tiny white spots for eyes. "You think I've turned over a new leaf, don'tcha?" His voice gave way to a demonic laugh, emphasising just how little her really cared. Frisk mentally cursed herself for letting a single tear escape and roll down her cheek, dripping onto the carpet below. "Aw, did little ol' Flowey explaining the reality upset little Frisky-wisky?" He mocked, followed by more laughter. Deciding that she wasn't going to be able to get another word in, Frisk pulled the jar out of her pocket and flicked open the lid. The sight of this caused Flowey to stop in his tracks, his face contorting back into its original form. "Hey… W-what're you…?"

Extremely casually, Frisk wordlessly took the soul out of the jar and pushed it into Flowey's stem. Instantaneously, the soul dissolved into a ball of light and spread out all over Flowey, seeping deep into him. Once the last traces of soul vanished, Flowey looked to Frisk with a murderous glare, outraged.

"What the hell was that? You think you've got some kinda right over other monsters? Huh?!" Flowey raged at Frisk, who was still sat on the bed, watching him with a calm expression. "You think your tricks are gonna affect me?! I know how to deal with this kinda stuff! I've had decades of being alone to get a handle on this kinda crap!" Frisk didn't know what Flowey was saying anymore, and she had a sneaking suspicion that he didn't either. "That's right! Decades, so you… try being alone for so long… with no one to help… and see how… you…" That was all Flowey managed to say before he burst into tears. Real tears, from real emotions. And whilst Frisk felt bad for making Flowey feel this was, she was happy that he could feel _anything_ once more.

Taking Frisk by surprise, Flowey brought up two small vines and wrapped them around Frisk. For a moment, she was scared that she had angered him too much, but then Flowey pulled himself closer to Frisk and sobbed quietly into her jumper. Letting him get it out of his system, Frisk chose not to say anything, but instead lie down on the bed and hug Flowey back. As tiredness surrounded Frisk, she soon dozed off, but not before hearing a muffled "thank you" from the flower next to her.

 **Needless to say, thank you again to all of you for your support and taking the time to read my story, it means a lot :) See you in the next chapter!**


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